The City of Irvine has developed a master plan for Heritage Community Park. Opened in 1978, many of the parks original facilities are still being used today. This plan focuses on enhancing the services and facilities provided within the approximately 44-acre community park. Currently, Heritage Community Park offers a variety of activities and supports a range of recreational needs through facilities on-site, which include the Heritage Park Community Center, Irvine Fine Arts Center, Child Resource Center, the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center, numerous sports fields, play areas, and picnic areas.
In 2017, when the funding was set aside to prepare a Master Plan for rehabilitating the park, staff, and its design consultant, MIG, analyzed the site, conducted an extensive community outreach process, and prepared various conceptual alternatives for development of the Master Plan.
As the last step in the master plan process, the City is finalizing its environmental review of the Draft Master Plan document. A preferred park alternative concept was created utilizing feedback received during the community outreach process. The resulting master plan document is reflective of the collaboration of several stakeholders including the residents, park patrons, park staff, the Irvine Unified School District, the fine arts community, numerous City committees and commissions.
In addition, the City extended project timelines to incorporate and coordinate planning efforts at other properties located immediately adjacent to the park site. Specifically, the Irvine Unified School District (IUSD) recently built a state-of-art theater building at Irvine High School. The City is also in the process of transitioning from the Orange County Public Library (OCPL) to a City-run public library system which will result in modernization of the Heritage Park Library. These efforts were be coordinated with the Master Plan to ensure maximum efficiency and compatibility.
Project Updates
Draft Master Plan
The City used feedback provided at various stakeholder, community, and committee/commission meetings to develop the draft master plan.
The Draft Master Plan includes several improvements related to the long-term redevelopment of the park, incuding, but not limited to:
- A new larger community center that will incorporate current recreation programs with youth/middle school programs, the nursery school, and the Child Resource Center.
- An expanded and modernized Irvine Fine Arts Center.
- An additional 50-meter pool at Woollett Aquatics Center.
- An additional parking area in the northwest portion of the park and an expanded parking area along Walnut Avenue.
- Addition of a multi-use platform in the picnic area for recreational activities.
- Creation of pickleball courts on an existing tennis court, as space allows.
Detailed information on the long-term vision for the park is provided in the Draft Heritage Community Park Master Plan available here.
Draft Heritage Community Park Master Plan
Environmental Review
After the Draft Master Plan and accompanying Master Plan document were completed, the City’s environmental consultant, PlaceWorks, conducted a thorough environmental review of the proposed project improvements. The City released a Notice of Intent (NOI) to adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for the project. Copies of the related documents are provided below:
The City is accepting written comments on the Draft IS/MND from November 14, 2024, to December 6, 2024. A hard copy of the document is also available for review at the planning counter on the first floor of City of Irvine City Hall, located at 1 Civic Center Plaza, Irvine, 92673.